Ventriloquist
by Priestess Mayumi
Summary: Naruto faces one of the hardest decisions of his life when Madara Uchiha gives him an ultimatum that requires him to sacrifice the life of someone important to him. Possible two-shot if people review *hint hint*


**Ventriloquist**

Very loosely based off of "The Great Game" episode of Sherlock on BBC. I HIGHLY recommend this show, or at least this episode, to everyone.

I do not own Naruto or Sherlock or anything else. When you think about it, though, nothing is original :)

Possible two-shot…it depends on how I feel after I get feedback *hint hint* Please enjoy and don't hurt me.

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"Where are you? Come out! Come out you scumbag!" Naruto shouted out into the darkness of the cave. For weeks Team Kakashi had been on the trail of a serial killer who'd been massacring entire villages. For a long time, Sai and Kakashi-sensei had whispered in the dark shadows of the night that the culprit was practically uncatchable because of his incredible jutsu. Even Sakura-chan had begun to suspect that their efforts were futile.

Then Naruto had stumbled upon the messages. They were written on trees, sometimes carved in, sometimes written in blood. He only found them when he was alone, as though the criminal was watching his every move, which he probably was. The messages had confused him at first, but then he realized their purpose.

The criminal was trying to lead Naruto to him.

And then, that very night, Naruto had received the final message…an invitation to the cave in the mountain behind their campsite. He was to come when the others fell asleep…alone.

Naruto wasn't stupid enough not to realize that this was probably a trap, but it couldn't be helped. He'd seen the havoc that this psychopath had wrecked on countless villages. The maniac _had_ to be stopped, and he couldn't get Sai, Kakashi-sensei, and Sakura-chan involved. No…he'd hurt them all enough.

In front of him, in the dark corridors of the cave, he heard footsteps coming towards him. They were cold, purposeful footsteps, as though the owner of the feet was trying to take his time getting to Naruto. He instantly flipped a kunai into his hand and readied himself for the murderer. He was ready for anything…anyone.

Anyone but the person who stepped out of the shadows.

To Naruto's absolute horror, a tall, black-haired man stepped out of the darkness. Said man has wearing a fine, long, black coat covered in scarlet clouds. The cold eyes were unmistakable, although Naruto wished they were not.

"S…Sasuke?"

And there he was, Sasuke Uchiha in the flesh. His eyes were staring unflinchingly forward, his face impassible.

Sasuke? It couldn't be! Naruto stared in horror, not believing what was in front of him. Sasuke? His friend Sasuke? Sasuke could not be the serial killer. There was no way that Sasuke could have committed all those heinous crimes. Even though Sasuke had trained under Orochimaru, killed his older brother, killed that creep Danzo, and almost killed his team member, Karin, he was _not _the murderer.

Was he?

"Nice to see you again, Naruto." Sasuke's voice was strong and emotionless, as usual, but there was something different about it. His fluent sentence structure was broken, as though his mind was gasping for the right words the way a tired person might gasp for breath.

Sasuke **never** had to _search_ for the right words. They always just _came_ to him; Sasuke had a gift for that.

"Quite a surprising turn of events, isn't it, Naruto."

"Sasuke? What the hell…"

"What…what do you want me to make Sasuke-kun say next?"

"What?" Naruto caught on to his friend's use of the third person. Why? Why would Sasuke do…

Slowly, carefully, Sasuke pulled the Akatsuki cloak open, revealing his chest and torso. Naruto's eyes froze in horror. There, wrapped around Sasuke's body, was a bomb shikigami. Any sudden moves by the Uchiha could set it off, as well as a command from the controller…and it might be timed to explode. Naruto understood suddenly. Sasuke wasn't the murderer. The relief he felt was short-lived.

It meant that Sasuke was a hostage…and he could blow up any minute, taking Naruto with him.

"I can make him say anything you like, Naruto-kun. I could even make the little snip tell you that he loves you. Would you like that?" Naruto was still as frozen as an icicle. Whoever was holding Sasuke hostage, the murderer, was controlling Sasuke's words. That's why his friend's speech pattern had changed. The words weren't his.

"You…you have a Sharingan, don't you? That's how you're forcing Sasuke around, right?" The gears were spinning in Naruto's head as he tried in vain to understand it all.

"Ramen." Sasuke breathed out. "Ramen…R-Ramen". On the last repetition of the word, Sasuke's voice broke.

"STOP IT!" The kyuubi inside Naruto was raging at Sasuke's trembling voice. The last time Naruto had seen true fear in Sasuke's eyes was years and years ago.

But now, Sasuke's dark eyes were shaking…the Sharingan not even discernable any more.

"Come out! Come OUT you coward!"

A dark, high laugh came from the shadows as the _true_ mastermind came out into the open. When Naruto saw his form in the light, he silently swore. Of course…

"Madara Uchiha."

The seemingly immortal fiend stepped closer to the two ninjas, still laughing manically. In anger, Naruto gathered a Rasengan in his hand and held it up in Madara's direction-a warning.

"Ooh! Are you _threatening_ me?" The masked figure taunted. "One move in my direction and Sasuke-kun goes…boom!" The sickening glee in the elder Uchiha's voice was obvious.

"You b-!" Naruto gritted through his teeth. "Let Sasuke go!"

Dropping all playful pretense, Madara turned his Sharingan in Naruto's direction. "I want the kyuubi. Give it to me, and I'll let your dear friends at the base of the mountain live. You _do_ know that if Sasuke-kun's bomb goes off right now, your little buddies from Konoha will die, right?" The shock that registered in Naruto's eyes made it clear that he _hadn't _known. "Whoopsies!" shouted Madara.

Naruto _knew_ that if he gave the kyuubi up he would die. But Sai? Kakashi-sensei? _Sakura-chan?_

"Fine. I'll give you the kyuubi. You let Sasuke and the others live."

A laugh suddenly sounded from the Uchiha—a harsh, breaking sound. "Sasuke-kun? I never said I would let _Sasuke-kun_ live."

Naruto's blood started to run cold.

"No, no, Naruto Uzamaki. Sasuke Uchiha will die tonight…as will you. But as for the others…that's all up to you."

The fear was gripping Naruto with a fist of iron. Sasuke…Sasuke…he couldn't just let Sasuke die. _Sasuke! What do you want me to do? _"Why Sasuke? What has he done to you?"

"Heh. Since you're going to die, Naruto, I'll let you in on a little secret. This is how I operate: I want something, someone gets in my way, and I get _rid_ of them. You and Sasuke have gotten in my way. You have to go."

"What…what if I killed myself?" Naruto trembled out.

Madara reached up, pretending to scratch his head in puzzlement. "Well…I suppose that you would die in disgrace, then I would set off Sasuke's bomb and he and the others would die while I escape without a single scratch with five of my…_problems_ dead.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, still unmoving, but he knew what Sasuke would say if he spoke. _Don't give it to him! I'm going to die anyway…Go! Save Sakura and the others. I'm going to die anyway…_

"Fine," Naruto breathed out. "Come and take the kyuubi from me."

The moment that Madara moved, Sasuke broke his subservient stance and struck out. He grabbed Madara, one arm around his neck and the other wrenching Madara's arm behind him.

"Run, Naruto!" Sasuke let out a broken scream, the first real words he'd dared to utter.

Madara laughed again, angering Naruto more. "Sasuke! This is quite a surprise!"

Ignoring his predecessor, Sasuke fixed his eyes on Naruto. His gaze was that of a madman. "Go Naruto! Just run, baka! Run!"

Naruto quickly put the situation together. Sasuke was using Madara as a cushion of sorts to keep the bomb from doing widespread damage, at the same time destroying the psychopath by setting off the shikigami himself. Madara continued to chuckle, as though Sasuke's offer to die was the most hilarious thing he'd ever heard.

"How interesting a twist this is! And all this time…I thought you were _Orochimaru's_ pet."

Angered, Sasuke yanked up suddenly on Madara's arm.

"Run," Sasuke continued to say. "Run Naruto. Please."

"Sasuke! Have you gone insane?" Tears of mirth started to fall from Naruto's eyes. "I'm not going to let you…I mean…there _has_ to be some other way!"

"Is there?" Madara reverted to using Sasuke's voice again, the manicial tone sounding so wrong for the Uchiha. "Is there _really_?"

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Hah. Yep…I'm just that evil. So, should I add on to this? If so, how should it end? Should Sasuke die? Naruto? Both of them? Or do you want a happy ending where Madara gets his due and the ninjas escape? Go down and click on the review button and tell me all about it. While you're there, click the story and author alert buttons (as well as favorite…:) )

Luvs,

Priestess Mayumi


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